Kent State University
10-11, 4-4MAC
University of Toledo
12-10, 5-3MAC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toledo | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
| Kent State | 17 | 27 | 23 | 18 | 1 |
Kent State Drops 3-1 Decision to Toledo in ‘Dig for the Cure’ Match
10/19/2013 10:18:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
KENT, Ohio – Kent State was unable to get back on track Saturday evening and suffered its second setback in a row, falling to Toledo, 3-1 (17-25, 27-25, 23-25, 18-25) at the M.A.C. Center. The Golden Flashes, who sported new pink uniforms for the annual 'Dig for the Cure' match, were successful in raising money for the J.D. Breast Cancer Foundation. The Flashes sold out of their allotment of pink 'Dig for the Cure' t-shirts, the proceeds of which will be donated to the Cleveland-based organization.
On the court, Kent State (10-11, 4-4) had a repeat of Friday's performance against Ball State. After dropping the opening set, the Flashes evened things going into intermission. Leading 20-18 in the third, Kent State saw its lead slip away and was unable to recover in the final set.
"It was a little bit of déjà vu for us tonight," said head coach Don Gromala. "Our team has to figure out on the court what's happening in the moments that aren't going so hot."
One bright spot for Kent State was that it was able to out-dig its opponent. Senior Hannah Herc turned in another good performance and led the defense with a match-high 25 digs. Sophomore Sarah Mills came a dig shy of equaling her career-high with13 and junior Kaylee Koller added 11 digs.
"We were missing some digs that we were making a couple weeks ago, but you saw at the end with our backs to the wall that we were scrapping," Gromala said. "The hustle plays is where you get a lot of digs, and we were making those plays towards the end."
The Flashes also managed to record more kills than the Rockets, holding a 53-51 advantage. Sophomore Bridget Wilhelm led the way with 13 kills, while sophomore Kelly Hutchison and junior Liz Reikow each had 12. Senior Aleksandra Nowak had 48 assists.
"Ola's did a great job of setting them at the right times," said Gromala. "She's getting them the ball when they should be in-system and they're' dong their jobs. They're taking care of their business when they're 1-on-1."
The Flashes also had more misfires, totaling 33 errors to just 20 for Toledo, which proved to be the difference in the match.
"We're getting blocked a lot more than we have been, so we just have to make some better decisions offensively."
Kent State goes back on the road with Mid-American Conference matches at Western Michigan and Northern Illinois next Friday and Saturday.
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